This invention generally relates to the art of electrical connectors and, particularly, to a connector having a molded plastic housing with a unique configuration for facilitating forming the terminal-receiving passages of the housing.
Generally, a typical electrical connector includes some form of dielectric housing mounting a plurality of conductive terminals defining the connecting interface of the connector. Quite often, the dielectric housing is molded of plastic material and includes a plurality of terminal-receiving passages into which the terminals are inserted.
Some connectors of the character described above require long and narrow terminal-receiving passages for receiving long and slender pin-type terminals. Such pin terminals are used in header connectors for mounting on printed circuit boards, for instance. When the housing is molded of plastic material, the long and narrow terminal-receiving passages are formed by core pins of the mold die assembly. Considerable problems often are encountered because the core pins which conform to the shape and dimensions of the long and slender terminal pins are prone to breakage and/or deformation. This invention is directed to solving these problems by providing a unique configuration of the molded dielectric housing of the connector, particularly in the area of the terminal-receiving passages, whereby a single robust core pin can be used to form multiple terminal-receiving passages.
An object, therefore, of the invention is to provide a new and improved electrical connector of the character described.
In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the connector includes a dielectric housing of molded plastic material. The housing includes a plurality of elongated terminal-receiving passages extending into the housing from a terminal-insertion face of the housing. In addition, the rear of the housing is extended in a step fashion to correspond with the relative lengths of the horizontal portions of the corresponding terminals. A plurality of terminals are inserted into the passages of the housing through the terminal-insertion face thereof.
The invention contemplates that at least two of the elongated terminal-receiving passages be adjacent to each other and have enclosing elongated side wall means. Each of the two passages is open at a side thereof near the other passage along a substantial length thereof to provide communication between the two passages for a single core pin to be used in forming the two passages during molding of the housing. Therefore, the core pin can be considerably more robust than a core pin for forming a single passage.
As disclosed herein, at least four of the terminal-receiving passages are located in a cluster spaced about an axis generally centrally of the cluster. The elongated side wall means of the passages are open at locations nearest the axis to provide communication between all of the passages in the cluster for a single core pin to be used in forming all four passages during molding of the housing. The passages are shown herein to be polygonal in cross-section, such as rectangular passages. The corners of the passages nearest the axis are open to provide communication therebetween for the single core pin.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.